Helideck Fire Fighting System | Aluminium Offshore

Video: Helicopter crash scenario on an enhanced safety deck: the deck fire is automatically retarded and all fuel safely drained away.

We provide full helideck fire fighting and safety equipment in accordance with Civil Aviation and related Codes including foam monitors, complementary media and rescue equipment.

We have also pioneered and developed a new automatically operated DIFFS unit (Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System) which is in accordance with the latest civil aviation codes and approved by use by these codes. This new system is described below:

Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (DIFFS)

The DIFFS system is designed to provide a safer and more efficient alternative to the current Fixed Monitor Systems (FMS) installed on helidecks.

UK Civil Aviation Authority CAP 437. (5th edition 2005, Ch. 5, para 2.9) allows a Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (“DIFFS”) to be installed as an alternative to a Fixed Monitor System (“FMS”). This DIFFS unit shall either spray foam (in the case of helidecks on manned installations), or water (when used in conjunction with a passive, Enhanced Safety® helideck for unmanned installations and where a power supply source exists).

DIFFS offers substantial advantages over the traditional foam monitor units:

Safer: rescue crew can work concurrently with spray activation
Frees up rescue and fire fighting crew to help with helicopter evacuation
Automatic: less chance of human error
Nozzles spray uniformly: fire out in < 15 seconds
Fire fighting platforms can be eliminated or reduced
More efficient fire suppression
Multiple nozzles less affected by blockages

System Overview

The system overview below relates to a foam DIFFS unit; a water DIFFS unit is essentially similar but somewhat simpler in configuration/hardware.

The foam DIFFS system consists of an electric operated deluge valve, pop up spray nozzles, remote manual stations, UV/IR flame detectors, deluge valve release panel, foam storage tank containing foam concentrate 1% or 3% AFFF and a turbine foam proportioner.

The corrosion resistant spray nozzles are spaced evenly across the helideck and sit flush with its surface to provide an optimal and even coverage of the helideck surface. The nozzles do not present any trip hazard.

The unit is capable of being activated either manually (by way of the remote manual stations) or automatically (by way of UV/IR flame detectors).

Upon detection of a fire via the UV/IR flame detectors, or manual activation, a foam-water mixture will be released through the deluge valve-foam inductor unit, through the firewater piping network and to the pop-up spray nozzles.

The entire system has been tested and approved via live fire tests carried out in accordance with CAA standards and witnessed by Class and is fully approved for us on any helidecks following UKCAA or ICAO standards.